Sketches in the Sky
by The Siren Calling
Summary: Sakura is horrible at ice-skating, so someone has to be there to make sure she doesn't fall, or go down with her. (For Sasusaku month)
1. In Calculus

It's drabble time!

This'll be the first in a long line of drabbles revolving around Sakura and Sasuke.

**Summary:** Love should be like an algebraic equation, simple and straightforward.

* * *

Sakura often wondered why love was so complicated. It was all about chemicals and hormones and easily predicted things anyway. So why wasn't it simple?

Take an equation for example. Something like 2x = 5(5) – 9. The answer is 8. 5 x 5 = 25, - 9 and you get 16, then divide by 2 and get 8. It's simple really, and it's factual, but it's overly complicated. Why didn't they just write 2x = 5^2 - 9, or save us all a little time by putting 16 there. Suddenly your equation is so simple a 4th grader could do it. Love should be like that, simple, straightforward, and at the end there's an X to mark the spot of where your "happily ever after" can be found. But love is almost always just as weirdly written and unnecessarily complicated as that first equation, usually even more so.

But why?

That was the question Sakura found herself pondering over in calculus, absently staring at that night's assignment written on her otherwise blank sheet of paper. Of course, the next moment Sasuke was turning around to ask her something, and she promptly forgot all about her wonderings in favor of thinking about how good he looked in black.


	2. Movie Night

I should be memorizing lines for Little Shop right now…but instead I'm stalking pinterest and editing this.

**Summary: **Sasuke always dreaded movie nights with Sakura…

"Your choices are 'Rent' or 'The Lion King.'" Sakura told him matter-of-factly.

Sasuke scowled, "Neither."

Her face darkened. "One or the other. Be happy I'm letting you pick."

Sasuke thought about his options, a musical all about AIDS and heroin and homosexuality, bla, bla, bla, or her all time favorite Disney movie. Either way he'd have to comfort her whenever she started boohooing over some character's death, and he really didn't want to deal with that right then…

"…Lion King." He sat down heavily on the couch, arms crossed in agitation. He could've been watching the soccer game with Naruto right now, but no. Sakura had to go and force him into coming over to watch movies with all of these 'feelings.'

"_You're too emotionally stunted, Sasuke. It's like you don't even want to be around me unless we're having sex anymore! So you know what we're doing this Friday? We're going to watch movies that will hopefully make you open up, whether you want to or not."_

That's what she'd told him when they met at Starbucks the other day. He'd strongly regretted skipping out on his English class after she'd told him that…

Sakura was staring down her nose at him—which normally, she physically can't do—with her hands in fists resting on her hips. Obviously she did not like his attitude.

"Rent it is then!"

Sasuke's scowl deepened, "What happened to letting me pick?"

"I don't feel like watching Lion King," she said with a smug smile.

'_Damn you, and your manipulative self, you—'_

"Sasuke, stop scowling, otherwise your face is going to freeze like that."


	3. A Crown for a King

Lately I've become obsessed with Game of Thrones—reasonably I think. IT'S SO GOOD. OHMIGOD!

**A Crown for a King**

(After one of my favorite parts of the book…)

**Summary: **What happens when you insult fandoms…minus the bloodshed.

* * *

Just his luck, when Sasuke showed up at Sakura's house—hoping to do absolutely nothing—he found her crying on her couch eating copious amounts of chocolate chip cookie dough…this could only mean one thing.

"Who died in your book?" He didn't even bother sitting down before the question popped out.

She stopped shoveling food into her mouth for one second, "…You know me so well," then ate the largest spoonful of cookie dough he'd ever seen. "And luckily, he's not dead yet…he's pro'ly on his way there…but at the moment, he's just in a coma or something...I'm not really sure."

Another bite, and then a sigh, "Sasuke…sometimes I wonder if authors just _want _me to be perpetually depressed…"

"No, they just like to be assholes sometimes."

"Well, yeah…but I mean…THEY PUSHED HIM OUT OF A GODDAMN WINDOW, which is just _completely _not okay, and Bran is only seven—"

"Bran? As in, 'Game of Thrones' Bran? You're reading that?" He stared at her, confused.

"Yes." She made a 'duh' face.

"And you actually like it?"

"It's fucking awesome." She said around her latest bite of cookie dough. "Why wouldn't I like it?" He could tell she was offended by that last comment.

"It just doesn't seem like something a girl would like." He put his hands out in front of himself defensively. She glared.

"That is an incredibly sexist comment, sir. And I, for one, am offended by it," she hmphed and turned her nose up in the air.

"I'm not saying a girl _can't _read it, I'm just saying that it's not a typical—"

"Sasuke, just stop talking."

* * *

**Note: **That is probably going to be the first and only time someone will ever tell Sasuke to stop talking.


	4. A Baby Shower

I just learned something unbelievable, and this is the product of my feelings.

**Dedication: **to one of my best friends. If she ever reads this, I hope she knows that I love her.

**A Baby Shower**

**Summary: **Shopping for the perfect baby shower gift.

She sat on the fire escape, smoking a cigarette with ice in her eyes and the sun on her face. "So."

"So…" Ino approached carefully.

"When were you going to tell me," Sakura stubbed out her cigarette on the surrounding metal and focused a softer look at her oldest friend.

"…When I first found out…but then I thought about the alternative—but that just seemed horrible…and then I just couldn't bear to tell you…I thought you'd be disappointed in me, and..." Ino placed her hands protectively on her slightly swollen belly.

"Stop fretting. God, you're making me sick…and I'm not the one with morning sickness," Sakura flashed a sardonic grin.

Ino let out a nervous giggle, "…So you're not mad?"

"Mad? I'm mad as hell—but only because you didn't tell me. I'm not mad at you—or Kiba, because let's face it, your baby is going to be fucking adorable."

Ino laughed out loud at that.

"So, when's the baby due?"

* * *

Five months, lots of puking, binge eating, more puking, and many midnight food runs later, Ino was about to have her baby shower, and Sakura was attempting to find the perfect gift…with Sasuke's help.

"What are these?"

She immediately took them away from him, "Breast pumps, Sasuke."

"Hn," she wasn't sure, but she thought she saw some pink dusting his cheeks.

The two of them were browsing the aisles of the mall's maternity store, Sasuke refusing to show how truly terrified he was—Sakura holding back laughter at his wide-eyed, barely concealed horror. The search for a baby shower gift was not going very well, Sasuke just wanted to grab something and get out, but Sakura knew that wouldn't do.

"Just get her some baby clothes or something," Sasuke suggested 15 minutes into shopping.

"Hinatas doing that."

He thought for a minute. "A mobile?"

"…This is the 21st century, Sasuke…" she deadpanned, holding an adorable little skirt up to the light.

"People still have mobiles, Sakura." He grabbed the skirt and started folding it, "You just said Hinata was getting clothes."

"…But this is sho cyooot!" She puckered her lips and pinched one of his cheeks, "Don' cha think?"

"…Sure…"

She scoffed, "You're no help."

30 minutes later, and Sasuke wanted to get help from the very pregnant salesgirl so they could _leave_. But Sakura would not hear of it.

"Sasuke, that's so mean! She's huge! She doesn't want to walk around this store listening to me whine about not finding anything!"

"…And you think I do?"

Sakura crossed her arms, huffed, and walked out of the store.


	5. Auto Correct

Asdfjkl, that's how I feel about this. It's just kind of blah. But I love it anyways. I think it's because I have a love of those fanfics written completely with email. This is the texting version of those stories.

**Auto Correct**

******Summary: **Texting the anti-social boyfriend.

* * *

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**Hey!

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**Hey

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**The spiders want me to do homework. I don't want to do homework!

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**?

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**Oh my god. Harry Potter reference, duh.

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**Why?

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**YOU POOR CHILDHOOD DEPRIVED BOY! I WILL SAVE YOU!

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**I don't need saving.

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**Um, obviously you do if you didn't understand my Harry Potter reference!

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**I disagree. I've had bad experiences with your ideas of 'saving me.'

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**What? Psh, my saving you has opened your eyes to, ahem, A WHOLE NEW WORLD!

…

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**Sasuke?

…

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**Oh Sasu-cakes!

…

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**Fine. Ignore me. I see how it is.

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**I don't want to talk to you.

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**Sasuke, whatever in the world made you say that?

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**You. Right now.

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**Whaaa, me?

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**_-Blank message-_

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**Oh Sasuke…Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke… Fine. I'll just go talk to Kiba about my relationship problems again, I know how you detest him—and how you think he's going to take advantage of me, BUT HE WON'T—but you see, I can't bring myself to care…You've just upset me so much.

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**…I don't like him.

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**Yes I know, I've already stated that fact. No need to reiterate.

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**What do you want from me?

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**All I wanted was a distraction from doing homework. Gees.

**To: Sakura  
****From: Sasuke  
**…Fine…dinner and a movie, and then I'll help you with your homework.

**To: Sasuke  
****From: Sakura  
**I'll be over in five minutes!


	6. A Bedtime Story

**Random, don't look at this if you really don't want to read me ranting about adorable shit.  
****Reasons why KHR is one of the greatest manga/anime series ever:** Character songs. I-pin and Lambo…ermagerd…so cute. Yohohohohohoho.  
**Reason why that comment is related to Naruto:** The voice of Lambo is also the voice of Naruto. Bam. The protagonist of one of the most popular manga/animes ever is also an afro-haired, cow-suit-wearing, annoying (but so freaking adorable) infant.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own this wonderful story by Adam Mansbach.

**This is my favorite bedtime story ever. Go listen to Samuel L. Jackson narrating it. Now.**

**A Bedtime Story**

**Summary: **Sakura's favorite bedtime story, and Naruto's ruined childhood

* * *

"Sakura…I can't sleep."

'_Why did I volunteer to watch the sick kid? Why?'_

She sat down on the edge of Naruto's bed, glaring at his bookshelf full of video games, "Well, do you want some tea or something?"

He looked up at her with the biggest puppy-dog eyes she'd ever seen. "…Will you read me a story…?"

"Oh no, no. Naruto, you are 17 years old, you don't need anyone to read you a bedtime story—!"

"Please? Please Sakura? Please," he latched on to her arm like a parasite refusing to let go until he heard a story. Before she could get too mad over the fact that Naruto was acting like a 4 year old, a wonderful idea came to her mind.

"…Fine," She went to search for her laptop. She had the perfect bedtime story.

Two minutes later, Sakura was prepared to read Naruto his story, so she put her storytelling face on, and began.

"The cats nestle close to their kittens now," he giggled at the word 'nestle.' "The lambs have laid down with the sheep," Sakura paused to look at her slightly hysterical friend. "You're cozy and warm in your bed my dear…please, go the fuck to sleep."

"What?" Naruto started to sit up, confused by what Sakura just said.

"Nothing, lie back down, let me read…okay?"

He nodded, so she began again with a barely concealed smirk, "The windows are dark in the town, child. The whales huddle down in the deep. I'll read you one very last book if you swear," she whispered this next part, "you'll go the fuck to sleep."

Naruto's eyes shot wide open, "now I know you just said—"

"You're delusional, do you know how high your fever is?" She closed her laptop to properly give him 'the look.'

"…No."

"At least 100, now close your eyes, and let me continue."

Another smug smirk lit up her face and she continued to the next page, they were just getting to the best part.

"The eagles who soar through the sky are at rest, and the creatures who crawl, and creep. I know you're not thirsty. That's bullshit. Stop lying. Lie the fuck down, my darling, and sleep."

"You. You. You!" Naruto held a shaking finger up to her face, "You're ruining my childhood!"

"Whatever are you talking about?" Sakura blinked at him with false innocence.

"You, you…you! That's not a bedtime story!" he yelled.

"Yes it is!" She stared him down, "It's published and everything!"

"But…but it's not appropriate! I want a good bedtime story—"

"This is a wonderful bedtime story!"

"This is horrible!" Naruto turned in his bed with his back to her. "…I don't wanna hear the rest of it."

"Fine. I'll just go the fuck to sleep," and with that, Sakura marched her way out of her sick friend's room.

_'Mission accomplished.'_

* * *

**Note: **Yeah, no Sasuke in sight. I took a quick break from SasuSaku because this idea was stuck in my head.

**Note 2: **"Go the Fuck to Sleep" is the greatest bedtime story ever. Everyone should go find it, buy it, read it, listen to it, whatever. Just find it.


	7. A Choice

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS IS OVER! I'LL HAVE A LIFE FOR A WHILE! YES!

This started out as a 'Sakura's a big girl and can take care of herself and Sasuke knows it but Naruto doesn't and that's how she makes a choice' kind of story. …Now it's just fluff. But fluff is good!

**A Choice**

**Summary: **Your best friend or your could-have-been? It's your choice.

* * *

It was a choice between her best friend and her long-time crush.

What the _hell _was she supposed to do?

"…Just pick one you idiot," Ino was filing her nails and stating the obvious. "If you ask me, I'd just go with Sasuke, he's cute, he's got that bad boy charm, he's smart. Perfect!"

"It's not that easy though!" Sakura buried her head in the nearest pillow and mumbled, "I mean…it's not like I can just do a round of eenie meenie miny moe and call it good."

A moment's pause, then, "What was that?"

Sakura flipped over again to glare at the ceiling. "Nevermind…I gotta go, Ino."

"Wha—Sakura!"

The bedroom door slammed shut.

* * *

Sakura didn't know where she was going, she figured she'd drive until she got somewhere familiar and then stop and think.

But her mind wouldn't stop churning.

It was the strangest thing, going your entire life believing that your male best friend is there for you through everything—with no strings attached—and crushing on _his _male best friend at the same time thinking that everything will all end up perfectly wonderful and rainbow-filled and perfect.

Oh god she was so naïve.

Naruto had always been there. _Always_.

He was a constant in her life; when Ino was visiting her father during the summers, when her parents died, when everything fell apart Naruto was there.

But then there was Sasuke.

She didn't know what it was about him that made her heart beat faster, what it was that made her go light-headed to be around him for too long.

She was love-struck the moment Naruto introduced them to each other in grade school.

She couldn't choose.

* * *

Ino tried calling her that night, so did Karin, Hinata, Tenten, and even Anko.

"_Sakura, I'm sorry for calling you an idiot, but seriously, JUST PICK ONE ALREADY! OH MY GOD YOU'RE DRIVING ME INSANE WITH YOUR INDECISSIVENESS!"_

"_Sak, it's Karin. My cousin has just informed me that he confessed his undying love for you recently. He's an idiot. Call me, babe."_

"_Sakura, I'm just calling to check up on you…you okay…?"_

"_Haruno. WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU? Just pick one ad get it over with, Jesus. Ino's pissing me off and won't leave me alone…MAKE IT STOP!"_

"_Sakura Haruno. What have I told you about boys and avoiding them completely until you're 33? Are you ignoring my sagely advice? I forbid you to pick from either idiot—"_

Sakura shut off her phone and went to sleep.

* * *

_Tap, tap…_

_Tap…_

_Tap, tap…_

"What the fuuuuuuck…" Sakura rolled over to hide her face in her pillow.

_Tap, tap, tap…_

"Jesus Christ…goddammit!" Her knee collided with something hard.

"God…" She pulled open the window and glared out into the dark, "It is _3 in the __**goddamn **__morning_, what is it!"

"Shh, god you're loud."

Sakura stood stock still, frozen in her awkward halfway out the window position. "_Sasuke_?"

"Yes, I need to talk to you."

She pondered that for a moment. "_It's 3 in the __**goddamn**_—"

"_Yes I __**know**_ but can you just hear me out?"

A pause, then, "I guess."

"Sakura…I know…Naruto's been your best friend for ages…and I know that you've had a crush on me for—"

"What! NO I DON'T!" She whisper-yelled.

She could barely see him, even though he wasn't standing very far away and she was on the ground floor, the night was too dark. But she could practically feel his glare.

"…For a long time too."

There was silence for a long time.

"Sasuke, why are you here?" She crossed her arms and leaned against the windowpane. "Just to tell me what I already know?"

"No." He was suddenly a lot closer, his eyes shone underneath the faint starlight. "Sakura, I couldn't stop thinking about you today…"

She leveled a questioning stare at him.

"…I've been…stupid," she bit back a giggle," for lack of a better word. I knew Naruto liked you…but it…never seemed right." He tucked a loose hair behind her ear and she felt the heat rising to her cheeks.

"Sakura, I really care for you…and I have…for a while now, and…I want to be more than friends…and I knew you'd always liked me, but I thought that Naruto—"

"Sasuke. You're rambling," Sakura leaned her head in closer to the boy.

"Hn."

She let out a giggle.

"So?" she leaned in another inch.

"So?" he did too.

"I've made my choice."

* * *

It sucks, but that's OKAY!

I pumped this out in an hour or so…two tops? With lots of music-changing, twitter-checking, and just plain old internet-stalking in between paragraphs.


	8. A Little Fall of Rain

**Dedicated to** all of those children in Connecticut and China who were killed before their time. May they rest in peace.

The title of this drabble is taken from the name of a beautiful song from Les Misérables.

"_A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now."_

**A Little Fall of Rain**

**Summary: **The rain comes down to wash away all the blood, but the memories remain.

* * *

Sakura spat a glob of blood on to the cold, hard packed dirt beneath her hands and knees. "Shit…" She stood up with unusual lack of grace for a seasoned kunoichi, her vision going black the moment she was standing straight.

She trudged along, passing dead bodies unceremoniously thrown on top of each other in haphazard piles. Thunder crashed in the distance, and the scent of coming rain mixed unpleasantly with the metallic one of blood already in the air.

Her comrades had almost all fallen, dying to protect the shell left of their once great village.

Konoha was in ruins, and it was all Sakura could do to keep herself from crying at the thought of all those lives lost trying to protect it.

"Sakura."

She froze, took in a gulp of air, and spoke. "Sasuke…"

He walked up behind her, too close for her liking. Sakura clutched the wound at her side and clenched her jaw.

"You're hurt." He phrased it like a statement, he knew she was hurt, it was Sakura, she had to be protecting people, no matter what it cost her.

"I'm fine." She bit out.

"You don't look fine…" he reached out for a lock of pink hair, "Let me help y—"

"I don't need help Sasuke, I'm fine." She started to march away from him, angry and indignant. She didn't need anyone.

Until she started to fall.

She groaned out something unintelligible after he caught her, then attempted to wriggle away from him, "Let me go, dammit!"

"Sakura, shh…" Sasuke held her loosely in his arms, running a hand through her hair and shushing her, like she was a child frightened by the coming storm, not his ex-teammate who was bleeding all over his clothes.

Sakura stared up at her old teammate. Even with that weary-eyed look and his sweat-soaked hair, he was beautiful. "…Why did you come back?"

He didn't answer.

"You didn't have to—"

"I know." He held on to her a little tighter, "…We need to get you to Shizune."'

"That's not going to help me now." Sakura felt a raindrop hit her nose, and the ghost of a smile lit up her face. "I'm going to die Sasuke."

"No."

She laughed up at him and placed a hand on his cheek, the rain fell harder. "Everyone has to die sometime, Sasuke."

"You don't think I know that?" he glared off at some unsuspecting tree.

She didn't answer.

"You're not going to die," he stood, Sakura limp in his arms. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, shielding Sakura's body from the rain with his own. "You're not going to die…"

* * *

**Note: **I'm realizing that my summaries don't always make sense after I've written the entire drabble...oh well.


	9. An Arsonist's Rebellion

This is my AP Lang narrative with a few tweaks.

_"Let's slit our wrists and burn down something beautiful..." -+44_

_"But oh, at least we know that if we die, we lived with passion, they said we'd burn so bright..." -Cartel_

**An Arsonist's Rebellion**

**Summary: **In which an unnamed girl wants to watch the world burn down in flames. What else is there to do in a world like this?

* * *

I was running through alleyways and cutting my ankles on broken glass when I ran into my savior.

She was all eyeliner and blonde hair extensions on a skeleton's anorexic frame, twenty-something and strangely beautiful too. I was twelve and snot-nosed from the cold.

This elegantly broken woman walked up to me in all my filthy layers, she gave me two things that day: a place to stay away from the cold, and a smile.

Hours that felt like only a nano-second later, a burly man with tattoos up and down his arms like sleeves was pulling the woman away. I bolted for the doorway, afraid of what was happening…

The next day, I came back to give my thanks, hoping she was okay…instead I found her hung up by a noose, blue faced and smiling.

…And at peace.

* * *

I'm sixteen and choking on a cigarette, standing beside a pool of Molotov cocktail, brushing sweat-soaked hair out of my face, and being careful not to let any ashes kill me prematurely.

"_You're insane."_

Just to prove it, I let out a laugh that could've shook the confines of the entire warehouse I was standing in. "Maybe I am…"

There was a trail of gasoline leading to the pool of whatever-flammable-substances-I-could-find. I lit it up with the tip of my cancer stick and ran like hell.

Karin was waiting for me a few blocks away, stamping out her own cigarette with the same steel-toed boots I had on.

"What was this place anyways?" She had a smirk on her lips and a light in her eyes that only came with the thought of mischief and arson.

"Sex-trade's, ya know…I got some info sayin' it was their HQ or somethin'." I tossed my burnt down stub of nicotine off to the side with a practiced air and breathed out a last ring of smoke.

Karin stared at me for a minute, as if deciding whether or not to laugh, "…You're insane."

She says it with a smile, and I can't help but laugh.

* * *

I like burning things.

I _really _like burning things.

Watching something you think is inflammable—concrete for instance—lit up with golden sparks and flashes of red, orange, and sometimes blue is a beautiful sight…because even if something can't burn, it can hold flame.

And that kind of makes me think of rebellion, of coup d'états that only would've worked when governments didn't have this kind of technology. But then I start to get depressed, and I start to wander if I really am insane to be hoping for something so unattainable.

So I go start another fire.

* * *

It's just Karin and me, leaning up against the iron balustrade that is meant to keep people from falling off the edge of this rooftop; it's more like a suicidal man's last obstacle these days though.

"You ever think about just jumping over the ledge?"

She sucks in smoke and angel dust, her eyelids droop to cover her irises halfway, and she's content, peaceful even, with all those drugs in her system. "Ever contemplate suicide?"

"Yes."

She seems surprised by this, and momentarily escapes her drug-induced haze to give me a wide-eyed stare.

"But I need to watch the world burn first."

* * *

Karin gave in and jumped over the edge about a month ago, I can't say I blame her, or that I'm even surprised.

But I'm fine.

I spend my days at age 20 hanging around red-lipped women and men with drinking problems, it's chaotic, but I like having a distraction from a failed life.

I have one final building to burn, it'll be difficult—impossible even—but I have responsibilities to this rebellion.

I am a proud part of the dissenters, I've gone through too much, seen friends and strangers alike die, and if I don't do this, then all of my previous work will have been in vain.

Depression and hatred tries to cling to me, tries to pull me back into her dark clutches, and I'm terrified that everything will go wrong.

But then I remember the dead faces, and whom I could be seeing in the morning...and I think I may be okay.

* * *

"I just want to watch the world burn…really…I just…I just…"

I didn't know what was happening. I was vaguely aware that there had to have been some horrible accident though, because I'd started to wonder if my legs were still attached to my body, and I was cold…

"I just wanted, _cough, cough, _to…ya know…" There was no one there beside me, no one to hold me and say 'it'll be okay…" But honestly, at this point, I didn't have it in me to care.

"…I just wanted to watch the world burn."

The sun was smiling at me, burning in its own light beautifully. I tried to smile back at it, "…Yeah…watch it burn…because this, _cough,_ this is just…_shit_."

I laughed, and my body shook with the sound of the hysterical almost dead. "It will…" I smiled up at the flames dancing in the sky, beckoning me home, "…it will."

"But I wanna see it, _cough, cough_, I want—_COUGH_!"

Something that was probably blood bubbled out of my throat, and despite the sunshine and the flames all around me, I was cold.

But I was happy.

* * *

The best part of writing this for an AP class was that I got to keep the word 'shit' in.


	10. Old Memories

**OVER 2,000 VIEWS! Spread the love ya'll.**

Now that I'm completely caught up with -Man manga, My Little Pony, and have done my last play of the year, I have time to sit and do nothing…or write fanfiction.

**Summary: **Old memories, and even older friends.

**Dedication: **To Narwhals...because they're pretty friggin' cool.

* * *

Naruto downed the last of his beer, "Damn."

Ino couldn't stop giggling. She was the queen of this game. "So, Naruto…have you ever…smoked pot?"

Immediately the group burst out laughing. No way. Not goody-two-shoes, 'I-only-drink-beer' Naruto.

A very Sasuke-like smirk crossed the blonde boy's face, "Haha…yeah. Actually…yeah."

Ino looked smug, Hinata confused, Tenten and Neji couldn't stop staring, and Sasuke was completely dumbfounded.

"Well elaborate!" the other blonde of the group excitedly clasped onto Naruto's shoulders.

"Ino—you're fucking loud. Has anyone ever told you that…?" Naruto opened another beer and passed it to Tenten. "It was…before senior year…yeah. I was at the plantation house—ya know, the one with the huuuuuge lake? …It was just me and Sakura…"

_Sakura stared at him. "You got this from who?"_

"_Suigetsu, apparently I need to 'mellow out.' I think I'm a pretty chill person—"_

"_Naruto…you are the most hyperactive person I have ever met. I don't think you'd know the meaning of the word chill unless it pertained to the temperature."_

_He pursed his lips in an upset fashion. "Ya know what's cooler than cool. ICE COLD. AND THAT'S WHAT I AM. So there," he 'hmphed' and turned his head away from her. Sakura tried to stifle her giggles while he continued. "…So are we gonna smoke it or not?"_

_Sakura turned the bag of five-fingered leaves over and over in her hands. She didn't have a problem with it, but what could it do to Naruto's reputation if people knew?_

"…_We tell no one…" She threw the bag at his face. "Not Kiba—definitely not Karin—no one. No. One." She leveled him with a very serious look before she held out her pinky. "You know what happens when you break a pinky promise right?"_

_He gulped, but nodded._

"Shit! I totally broke that pinky promise—I'm gonna die! Nooooooooo! I'm too young and pretty—"

"Naruto!" Sasuke whacked him upside the head. "You're not going to die."

"…The gods of the pinky promise are going to rain down fire and destruction into my life, and I will be no more…I WON'T EVEN GET TO FINISH COLLEGE GODDAMMIT!"

"Jesus Christ, Naruto!" and calls of "SHUT UP!" came at him from all sides of the peanut gallery. Then Ino shouted above the rest, "CALM THE FUCK DOWN AND FINISH THE STORY."

"Fine…" Naruto glared at each of his friends individually before continuing.

_20 minutes of puff-puff-passing later, and Naruto was so mellowed out that he actually thought of taking a nap. Sakura was drawing invisible patterns in the sky with her fingers._

_When the joint finally burnt out, Sakura sat up and stared out across the lake, and Naruto was quiet for what was possibly the longest time in his life._

"_Hey Naruto," the rosette looked to him with wide, bright eyes, then to the lake, then back to him. He inclined his head in a questioning way._

"_Narwhals." She pointed out to the lake with a sigh, "Mother. Fucking. Narwhals."_

* * *

**Random: **My iTunes account really likes Jack's Mannequin apparently...I don't blame it.  
**Not Random: **A sequel is probably to come, because NaruSaku is my brotop. (Brotp, being a word I stole from **ohwhatsherface**.)


	11. It's Not a Life for Everyone

**A quick drabble on my idea of the grown-up Ino-Sakura relationship. Really, on Sakura's thoughts about the Kunoichi lifestyle, specifically those certain assassination missions.**

Written to Lindsey Stirling and Petatonix's cover of Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. (This is such a beautifully done cover.)

* * *

The original Ino-Shika-Cho team stood around admiring their children's latest battle scars, there was a gathering crowd of friends and comrades who happened to be walking by that joined them in welcoming Team 10 home. They'd just gotten back from an extremely important A ranked mission.

"And not a scratch on you Shikamaru!" Shikaku patted his son on the back, earning a wince from the genius.

"Good job boys! Ino, you look a little worse for wear…" The set of fathers eyed the only female on the team, a wary look in their eyes.

Sakura grit her teeth.

Ino let out an embarrassed laugh, "I'm fine! Haha, really, I just didn't bother to heal all these scrapes, I'm still in training, ya know." She flashed her father a brilliant smile and everyone around went back to praising the three for a job well done.

In the midst of it all, Ino turned to Sakura and reached out to her old friend for a quick hug. "Sak…I…"

"Stop by my house later." The rosette took a step back to look at her friend's face. Ino looked so tired, but a small, grateful smile managed to make it's way across her face.

"Thank you."

Sakura walked off after a quick wave to Shikamaru and a nod to Choji. She could still hear Ino complimenting her teammates when she hit the edge of the main road.

"Shikamaru really is a genius, he had this great idea—and that was how we ultimately got him, and Choji kicked his ass—"

Sakura shut it all out. Ino had done more on this one mission for Konoha than the other two could accomplish in 10 missions.

But Ino would be mortified if anyone knew what she had done. It was positively demeaning, and every time the blond came home from missions like this, her skin grew a little thicker, her mascara a little darker…

And Sakura couldn't understand how Ino put up with everything with a smile on her face. Sakura had gone on those same missions, had men touch her and kiss her and she'd felt so utterly disgusted with herself and with her team when they treated her as anything less than themselves…and they didn't even know what she'd done, they just thought she'd disappeared for a crucial battle. As if that battle hadn't been orchestrated to take place at the exact time she did her job, where she leased out her body for some man to touch for Konoha's safety. They were oblivious, they didn't even **begin** to think about the sacrifices Kunoichi like her had to make.

There was never any recognition, which compared to having everyone know about her inglorious missions was the much better option…but Sakura didn't like to put up with it. It still angered her to see everyone around her praising her male teammates while she had to sit on the sidelines feeling altogether worthless even after everything she'd done.

But Ino…Ino put up with it, all of it. She reveled in her teammate's accomplishments, she was so proud of them, and never once stopped to think about the things they'd never have to do, things that were normal for her. Horribly, disgustingly normal…

Sakura may have been able to punch a hole through a wall, but when it came to emotional vulnerability, Ino was so much stronger.


	12. I Can Hold Your Hand

**Title: **I Can Hold Your Hand  
**Summary:** Sakura is horrible at ice-skating, so someone has to be there to make sure she doesn't fall, or go down with her.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.  
**Prompt:** Holding Hands  
**Comments:** Written to the tune of "Love Love Love" by: After School on repeat. It's just so perfectly wintery and cute.  
This is also on my tumblr here: post/54354058993/fanfiction-title-i-can-hold-your- hand **(but won't let me post links...that's right...)**

**HAPPY SASUSAKU MONTH!**

* * *

Sakura yelled out a panicked "Oh my god!" and with arms flailing she fell flat on her back, not for the first time that day.

Sasuke glided over to her with the practiced ease that one could only posses from years of practice—or a simple knack for ice-skating. With a smirk firmly in place and outstretched arm, he asked—quite smugly, Sakura would add, "Need a hand?"

Sakura glared at the advancing hand. "…No." She pushed it away, and turning her nose to the sky added, "I am perfectly capable of getting up on my own."

She dug the metal of her skates into the ice, glared again at his stupid smiling face, and pushed herself up. Standing proud, Sakura flashed him a beautiful smile before her left foot betrayed her and she went sprawling out on the ice once more.

"…Okay…yeah, maybe I need a hand…" Sasuke hoisted her up, only to have her come crashing into his torso.

She flushed a deep red, buried her face in Sasuke's hoodie, and mumbled something like "I suck at this." Pulling away, Sakura tugged at the edges of her hat, covering her ears and the pink of her eyebrows. "I suck _**so **_bad."

"You just don't know how to skate." Sasuke took her hand in his and gently pulled her to his side, "And you refuse help."

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him. "Cute," he rolled his eyes. "As long as you don't let go, I can promise you won't fall."

She snorted, "I doubt that. I will fall. And I will drag you down with me."

Sasuke pulled her along beside him with a chuckle, "Sure."

They skated in the almost quiet for a while. Sakura muttered complaints about the cold and how she was so horrible at skating, and Sasuke would occasionally stare down at the top of her knit hat making mental notes to thank Naruto for ditching them.

He stopped suddenly, and Sakura almost toppled over again, "Hey—a little warning next time?"

He stared down at her with a very solemn expression. "I'm going to let you go now—"

"WHAT—NO! I'LL DIE!" Sakura had a look of pure terror on her face. "I'll fall—and it'll be all your fault, and then at my funeral Naruto and Ino will be so upset, and—"

"Sakura," he gave her an exasperated look, "You're not going to die..."

The moment he let go of her hand, Sakura latched her arms around his torso. He blinked down at his pink-haired friend, completely dumbfounded. "Sakura?"

She heaved a sigh, "Just…just hold my hand…otherwise I'm going to fall—and _die_."

Sakura's head was bowed in remorse, and Sasuke couldn't help but think she was being a little overdramatic.

Well, this _was_ Sakura.

A gloved hand found it's way beneath Sakura's chin, and Sasuke lifted her face to his. "I can do that. I can hold your hand."

Sakura had turned a bright pink at the sight of his infamous Uchiha smirk. "Oh…you can, huh?"

"Mm-hmm," he leaned in a little closer, smirk ever growing. "Of course."

"Well…that's-_ehem_-nice…I guess…" She gave a small smile and closed the distance between them.

His smirk disappeared against her mouth, and for a moment Sakura completely forgot about falling, and being horrible at skating. Sasuke's arms were around her waist and she was winding her arms around his neck, and then suddenly they were tumbling into the snow, still wrapped up in each other's embrace.

Sakura was laughing against the hollow of his neck, "I told you I would drag you down with me."


End file.
